Combination-lock for automobile ignition-switches.



L. M. GREIF.

COMBINATION LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILE IGNITION SWITCHES. nrvucmou man nov.1a. 191s.

1,238,1 34. Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

I c HIM Li I INVENTOR wmvrss LM EH51}? A TTORN E I LOUIS M. GREIF, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

COMBINATION-LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILE IGNITION-SWITCHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Application filed November 13, 1915. Serial No. 61,347.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis M. Green, citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Combination-Locks for Automobile Ignition-Switches, of which the following is a s 'imrificati n.

This invention relates to a combination lock for automobile ignition switches, and. the object of the invention is to provide means whereby a switch. of this kind can be locked in an open position and so that any one who endeavors to steal or runaway with a car will be foiled because he does not know the combination which will enable the s\\'it(:l1 to be turned and closed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of the device, and Fig. 2 is a sectionthcrcof on line 22, Fig. 4, looking to the left. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3, Fig. 4, looking'to the right; Fig. 4 is a sectional view front to rear and corresponding substantially to H, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail as hereinafter described.

he disclosures in the said viewscomprise an insulating base 5, a metallic cap or cars ing 0 seated thereon, a central rotatable hand controlled stem or shaft 8, a disk (I thereon and a hub h. of insulating material secured by screws 2 to the said disk. Other screws secure the two disk-shaped conducting lates 3 to the said hub, and the outer 0 said plates has lateral projections 4 with slight bulbs stamped therein and adapted to ride upon and make electrical contact with the terminals 5 fixed on the inside of base 6 and which are connected by screws (5 through said base with the electric circuit wires w. Disk d is free on central shaft .9 except as engagement is made therewith by the pawl 8 which has a spring behind the same to keep it normally out in engaging relations with the ratchet 9 on the edge of the middle opening in said disk. It the said shaft be rotated in one direction it will have no-etlect on the said disk but if rotated in the other direction the pawl will engage said ratchet teeth and rotate the disk accordingly. This rotationis related to the locking mechanism for the switch hereinbefore referred to and which is so,c0nstructed and arranged that only a person who has the combination can release the iwitch. Thus, the base I) and the cap 0 have a circle of twelve holes about their outer portion at regular intervals adapted to receive a corresponding number of plunger-s of which the idlers are indicated by 10, and the active plungers as No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.,All the said plunger-s are alike depressible within limits lengthwise and provided with springs 1] bearing upon base 7) and adapted to hold said plungcrs normally in outward projected position, as seen in l ig. 4. The outer ends of said plungcrs are reduced to stem shape and the shoulders at the reduction hear aga inst the inside of cap (r as stops and heads or knobs 12 are secured on the ends of said stems and adapted to he gripped by hand for operation. which may be both rotary and axial or with a thrust inward.

Now, in operation of the device, it is planned that three of said plnngers shall be active and nine passive or idle, and the uninitiated are not supposed to know the particular plungers which, for the time being, belong to either class, nor would they know how to operate them if they knew the particular three to be used because thernode of operationas to each one is difierent from the others. For example, No. 1 operates by thrust and rotation; No. 2 by thrust alone, and N o. 3 by rotation alone, and each. movement tends to forward the ratchet disk (Z a third of a distance required to bring the switch into contact with the terminals 5 and thus close the circuit for action. It will be seen that each plunger has a pin 14 in its side adapted to engage a rib 15 on the cas ing, and N0. 1 has a wing 16 adapted to engage a projection 17 on the periphery of disk at. In operation the plunger is first depressed to bring the said wing opposite to and in contact with projection 17 on the disk (l and when rotated Will carry said disk forward a third of the total distance it has to travel to close the circuit on the switch. No. 2 is shown as having a Wing 16 with a beveled or inclined edge adapted to engage projection 17' by depression or thrust of the plunger with a cam-like action and thus rotate the disk d another third for ward. No. 3 has a side wing 16 adapted to be rotated in engagement with projection 17 and thus complete the movement necessary to close the circuit on the switch, or, to express it differently, to carry the switch around into closing position on the terminal 5. All the said movements must. necessarily be in the order as described or there will be no operation,and they are not only successive but each particular plunger also must be operated as described. The blind or idle plungers have exactly the same external appearance as the active ones and no difference can be ex erienced in the touch when one or the ot er is depressed as all have similar springs and all are rotatable. This fact with the further material difference in construction and operation of the three active plun ers and the necessity that they be operate in the order named makes it practically impossible for one who is not in possession of the particular combination on a given car to get hold of it even after protracted effort.

In this connection it should be understood that with a face having as many as a dozen plungers ex osed and with the active plungers set di erentl for each car that goes out, as can easily be done by changing said plungers and the ratchet disk (1 accordingly, it makes the device proof against outsiders, whatever their motive and the car is abso lutely secure to the owner.

The shaft S has a dial plate 20 about the neck thereof and provided in this instance with numbers from zero to 90 in subdivisions of 10, but this dial is used more as a blind than. otherwise. However, the dial indicates at once whether the parts are prop erly set for starting operations and the knob on said shaft S may be engaged by the hand to throw the switch open and to restore the disk to starting position. Tampering with this dial member will only throw the switch out of use instead of into service and to the initiated such tampering is indicated'by a misplaced position of the dial. I might also give numbers to the several plungers and these could be made useful in memory to recall the active plungers and their order of operation. Otherwise the' ositions of said plungers in the circle wil have to be remembered.

Obviously, also the several active plungers can be arranged in different positions as regards succession and get the same results, so that the possibilities of combinations are infinite.

The shaft 8 is secured in. the bottom of base 6 and the plan is to so secure the device in place that'it will'be difficult to approach for removal. As shown, the shaft 8 serves as the single medium for aflixing the parts in respect to base 6.

It is to be especially noted that the switch being open as shown it is closed by the plungers in a step by step movement and in three movements, in this instance, of presumably equal proportions. I .might use only twoliveor actlve plungel s or four, but two would be less diflicult to discover than three and four would add, excessively to the manipulations for closing the switch. 5 Therefore, three seem to be about the right number.

What I claim is:

1. A device as described comprising a rotatable shaft and a member in ratchet connection therewith having lateral projections,

a series of plungers in a circle about said shaft of which some are active and some inactive, and said active plungers having wings to engage and rotate said ratchet 7 member.

2. In a device as described, a rotatable shaft and a hub thereon, a disk on said shaft to which said hub is aflixed and said disk adapted to be locked'on said shaft, in 81 combination with a series of plungers arranged in a circle of which some are active and some inactive and said active plungers and said disk constructed to make working engagement and thus rotate said shaft and 85 the hub therewith.

3. In a device as described, a rotatable shaft and a disk havin ratchet enga ement therewith, a series of p ungers locate about said disk and certain of said plungers active and others inactive, and said active plungers having lateral projections ada ted to engage on the periphery of said dis and thereby rotate said shaft.

4. A device as described, comprising a rotatable shaft, a plurality of active plungers located in a circle about said shaft in scat-v tered relations with a series of inactiv 1,, plungers and all said plungers of the same, f exterior construction, and a disk in r et, 1,1942 engagement with said shaft and haviIf-{fr jections on its periphery adapted to be engaged by said active plungers and thereby rotate said shaft.

5. A lock as described comprising a housing, a rotatable shaft therein, and a disk on said shaft, a set of (plungers carried by said housing constructe between their ends to make operating engagement with said disk and rotate the same progressively in one direction at intermittent intervals independently of said shaft and said shaft adapted to be rotated by hand.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS M. GREIF.

Witnesses R. B. Moses, F. C. Harmon). 

